1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for assembling reels, and more particularly to such an apparatus for assembling reels or the like having a central drum constructed of staves and opposite circular flanges secured on the drum by tie rods, the apparatus being portable and adapted for use at any location where one of the flanges can be supported on a substantially horizontal surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wooden reels of the type described are commonly used for storing and shipping wire rope, telephone cables, electrical cables and the like. At present, these reels are assembled by suppliers outside the cable industry and then shipped to the cable plant where they are wound with the cable. Present methods of assembling these reels involve complex machinery and/or lifting of the reels, which are relatively heavy in the larger sizes. These methods are too expensive and inconvenient for use in cable plants and are even less suited for use in the field. Thus, reels are almost always shipped and stored in their notoriously cumbersome, bulky, space consuming assembly.
The reels have a much greater bulk in their assembled condition than in their unassembled condition. As a result, the expense of shipment is unduly high in the assembled condition. Although the reels are relatively expensive, the unduly high cost of shipping assembled reels makes it uneconomical to return empty reels to a cable plant for reuse. Therefore, the reels normally can be used only once. The bulk of the assembled reels makes indoor storage of the reels expensive, but they only rarely can be stored outdoors due to damage from the weather.
These problems exist although the reels are relatively easy to disassemble and are known to be economical to ship and store after disassembly. However, prior to the subject invention, such shipment and storage were not practical because there existed no sufficiently convenient, economical or practical method or apparatus for reassembly.
The cost of using such reels and the difficulties of reuse are further increased by the impracticability of replacing broken portions of reels so that usually the entire reel must be discarded when damaged. In particular, a flange of the reel is often broken by dropping the reel. When such breakage occurs, not only is the reel lost to further use but it is usually impractical to remove cable from it and it is the conventional practice to destroy the cable too. The cable is frequently of great value and the destruction of cable because of a damaged reel on which it is wound is a major expense to the industry.